Sporting KC falls to narrow 1-0 defeat at Portland Timbers

By Patrik Bergabo – SportingKC.com

Sporting Kansas City (3-8-1, 10 pts.) fell to a narrow 1-0 setback against the Portland Timbers (6-3-3, 21 pts.) at Providence Park on Saturday night. An evenly-matched contest was separated by one moment of brilliance from Portland’s Santiago Moreno, whose first-half bicycle kick sealed all three points for the hosts.

Head coach Kerry Zavagnin made one enforced change from last weekend’s victory over the LA Galaxy, with veteran left back Tim Leibold stepping in for the injured Logan Ndenbe.

The Timbers started fast and caused mayhem in the Sporting area just three minutes into the contest, but a combination of Jacob Bartlett and John Pulskamp dealt with the danger after Antony had got in behind.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to make their impressive start count as Moreno gave Portland the lead in spectacular fashion in the 10^th minute. Receiving a cross with his back to goal, the Colombian winger swiveled and produced a stunning bicycle kick that found the corner of the net to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead.

Sporting almost found the equalizer in the 15^th minute when Daniel Salloi ghosted into the area to meet Manu Garcia’s cross, but his effort was saved by Maxime Crepeau.

One minute later, Sporting sent a flurry of shots at the Portland net through Salloi and Shapi Suleymanov, but heroics from Crepeau and the Timbers backline preserved the lead for the hosts.

Goalkeeper John Pulskamp produced one of the saves of the season in the 21^st minute to deny Moreno a second goal on the night, flying across his goal to block a close-range effort that seemed destined for the back of the net.

Sporting began the second half on the front foot and Garcia spurned an excellent opportunity to bring his side level when he met Leibold’s cross at the far post but sliced his volley over the bar. In the 53^rd minute, Salloi dragged a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area after neat build-up as Sporting continued their search for an equalizer.

Salloi was Sporting’s main dangerman throughout the night and he again tested Crepeau in the 61^st minute with a dipping effort from 20 yards, but the Canadian ‘keeper pushed it away to safety.

Santiago Munoz made his debut for the club in the 81^st minute, replacing Suleymanov along the front line. Sporting continued pushing in stoppage time and substitute Jake Davis saw a powerful effort zip just over the bar from 25 yards in the 92^nd minute but Sporting was unable to find a way back, falling 1-0.

Sporting KC remains on the road for another pair of matches this coming week, starting with a trip to cross-state rivals St. Louis at Energizer Park on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. CT and the match will be televised nationally on FS1 as well as MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. The game will be available on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 12
Providence Park | Portland, OR
Attendance: 21,287
Weather: 64 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City 0-1 Portland Timbers

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Andrew Brody (Khiry Shelton 69’), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold (Zorhan Bassong 69’); Jacob Bartlett (Jake Davis 46’), Manu Garcia, Nemanja Radoja; Shapi Suleymanov (Santiago Munoz 81’), Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi (C) (Erik Thommy 70’)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Dany Rosero, Memo Rodriguez, Stephen Afrifa

Portland Timbers: Maxime Crepeau; Juan Mosquera (Eric Miller 84’), Finn Surman, Kamal Miller, Claudio Bravo; Joao Ortiz, David Ayala (Cristhian Paredes 68’), Santiago Moreno (Omir Fernandez 78’), David Da Costa (Jonathan Rodriguez 78’), Antony; Felipe Mora (C) (Kevin Kelsy 68’)

Subs Not Used: Trey Muse, Ian Smith, Dario Zuparic, Ariel Lassiter

Scoring Summary:
POR – Santiago Moreno 3 (David Da Costa 6, Antony 7) 10’

Misconduct Summary:
POR – Claudio Bravo (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 67’
SKC – Shapi Suleymanov (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 73’
SKC – Jake Davis (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 74’

Match Statistics

Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referee: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
Assistant Referee: Ben Pilgrim
Fourth Official: Adorae Monroy
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: TJ Zablocki